Tideswell residents are preparing to celebrate an exciting first for the village – the opening of their new community venue, the Fountain Square Church Hall.
As Tideswell has never had a village hall, the opening of this accessible facility will mark an important milestone. The venue has come about through years of hard work by local people, and a final ‘icing on the cake’ sponsorship boost from local company Tarmac.
The company operates several sites locally including Tunstead, Hindlow and Ballidon, but it is through the company’s national Landfill Communities Fund* that the Tideswell project team received almost £30,000 to cover the cost of installing a sophisticated kitchen to cater for a wide range of events.
Anthony Gill of the Church Hall project team says: “We are very excited to be getting ready to open our doors, welcome in people of all ages, and get cooking in our impressive new kitchen! The newly renovated and extended building offers the village a community space which has been lacking for generations. Tideswell has never had a Village Hall. This building offers two separate multi-purpose halls which will each accommodate 100 people, plus two further meeting rooms and other storage and meeting facilities. The kitchen will serve all these spaces and can be used for preparation of lunches, buffets and full meals on a scale unrivalled in the village and the local area.
“We can now plan the many different events that will take place here – from fitness classes to community theatre, toddler groups to retirement lunch clubs. And the whole building has been designed to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities. We finally have a welcoming, well equipped and accessible building available for the community to use seven days a week
“We expect the newly opened building to become a focal point in village life and help to generate new and exciting social activity across the community.”
Andrea Magro, the general manager of Tarmac’s energy recovery business, Sapphire**, went along to cut the cake to officially open the kitchen. He added: “Having come here a few months ago when the project was just a building site, it’s a real pleasure to see the kitchen finished and this impressive facility ready to be unveiled to the village. We are delighted to have been able to make a significant contribution – I am sure this new kitchen will be kept busy and help to make the Hall a real buzz of community activity for years to come!”
The 4m x 3m kitchen has been purpose-built in stainless steel by Sheffield family firm Fox Catering Equipment Ltd. Its centrepiece is a Silverlink 600 Range electric cooker with twin fan assisted oven and its own specifically designed ventilation canopy system. Other equipment includes a fridge, freezer, dishwasher (which completes washing cycles in 60 or 180 seconds), microwave oven, and separate additional countertop oven. It has two separate serving hatches (with electric roller shutters) providing quick access to the main renovated Hall and the newly built café style main entrance / welcome area.
*The Tarmac Landfill Communities Fund (or Landfill Tax Credit Scheme as it was formerly known) enables landfill operators like Tarmac, to donate part of their annual tax liability to enrolled Environmental Bodies for a variety of approved community and environmental projects. Landfill operators can reclaim 90% of their contribution as a tax credit which means the remaining 10% must be provided either by them or an independent third party. Through the fund, which is administered on Tarmac’s behalf by Derbyshire Environmental Trust, Tarmac donates around £1 million each year to community projects throughout the UK. The fund is open to applicants who meet the strict criteria for projects delivering community benefit. For more information please go to www.entrust.org.uk
**Sapphire Energy Recovery is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tarmac which is part of the global CRH group. Sapphire supports the business’ by providing alternative fuels and alternative raw materials to facilitate the plants goals regarding commercial excellence, carbon footprint and future developments.
Caption: Get ready …. Bake! The general manager of Tarmac’s energy recovery business, Sapphire, Andrea Magro (left) cuts the cake to open the kitchen in Tideswell’s new Fountain Square Church Hall. With Andrea are (left to right): Anthony Gill, Margaret Gill, Jean Jackson, Margaret Brignell and Jill Whitnel of the Fountain Square Church Leadership Team; and (back row second from right) Ben Senior, MD of Sheffield company Fox Catering Ltd who built the kitchen.